Dispatches from the Occupation: A History of Change

by Stephen Collis

Investigates one of philosophy's ongoing preoccupations--change--articulating its patterns across disciplines and through eras, from Ancient Rome to the Occupy Movement.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, ebook

First published September 11, 2012

Reviews

[Mike Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a difficult book to evaluate. The author is a professor of contemporary literature and an activist who participated in the Vancouver Occupation of 2011. The book is a collection of short writings that follow the motivation for the occupation movements, not only Vancouver but also Wall Street and other demonstrations in protest of what the author argues are our deteriorating governmental and ecological systems. It is written with academic precision and appropriate annotations and references.

Ultimately, the argument is in favor of civilian demonstrations to voice concern and outrage at increasing income gaps between the "1% and the 99%," and the methods of economic and governmental control that continue to cause such inequities. It is an indictment against capitalism in its most ruthless and hence self-destructive form, and an argument for protest of selfish control by the 1%.

My rating is based on the quality and thoroughness of the writing, not specifically on the validity of the author's argument. Three stars. Hard core conservatives would rate it one, socialists would rate it five.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always curious to discover that what you think is probably your own, relatively isolated experience and hodge-podge intellectual disposition is, in fact, emblematic of a widespread form of subjectivity.

Which is a fancy way of saying that it seems like Collis and I read a lot of the same books, and I agreed with both many of his thoughts and the way in which he expresses them.